1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector, a method of manufacturing the connector, and a wire harness using the connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A connector is known which is provided with a terminal(s) connected to an end(s) of an electric wire(s), a case member having a housing space for housing the terminal(s) inserted through a terminal insertion opening(s), and a molded resin portion formed by molding so as to cover the terminal insertion opening(s) of the case member (see, e.g., JP-A-H08-64301 and JP-A-H08-50957).
When manufacturing the connector described in JP-A-H08-64301, the terminal insertion opening is closed by a synthetic rubber plug to prevent a mold resin from entering the housing space of the case member (connector housing) through the terminal insertion opening at the time of molding. The plug has a wire insertion hole for inserting the wire and a slit formed by cutting the plug from the outer peripheral surface to the wire insertion hole, and the wire of which end portion is connected to the terminal is inserted into the wire insertion hole through the slit.
The connector described in JP-A-H08-50957 is configured substantially in the same manner as the connector described in JP-A-H08-64301, but the terminal insertion opening of the case member is closed by a hard plastic spacer instead of using the synthetic rubber plug. The spacer is composed of a pair of split spacers which sandwich the electric wire, and a groove having a semicircular cross section is formed on each of the split spacers. The electric wire is inserted through a wire insertion hole which is formed by combining the grooves having a semicircular cross section respectively formed on the pair of split spacers.